BIRUTE
(14th century), wife of Grand Prince Kestutis, mother of
Vytautas the Great. As far as can be ascertained from
historical sources, she belonged to a family of Samogitian
magnates. Although the chronicles contain no information
about her father, they do mention her father's brother
Vidimantas and her nephew Butrimas, who was married to the
daughter of Mantvydas. Later, when Vytautas became Grand
Prince of Lithuania, Mantvydas and Butrimas occupied high
official posts in the principality. This would indicate
that they were indeed the relatives of his mother.
According to ancient traditions, Birute was born near
Palanga on the Baltic seacoast and was a priestess
(vaidilute) who guarded the sacred fire of an altar in
Palanga. In popular tradition the marriage of Kestutis and
Birute became a beautiful legend, which was recorded in
the Lithuanian chronicle of Bychowiec as follows: “Kestutis,
ruling in Trakai and Samogitia, heard of a maiden of
Palanga named Birute, who, according to the pagan custom,
had promised the gods to preserve her chastity and was
herself honored as a goddess. And Prince Kestutis himself
went there, and the maiden pleased the Prince because she
was very beautiful and wise, and he asked her to be his
wife, but she did not wish to consent and answered that
she promised the gods to remain chaste until the end of
her days. And the Prince took her from there by force, and
with great respect accompanied her to Trakai, his capital.
He invited his brothers, held a large wedding feast, and
took Birute as his wife.”Their first son,
Vytautas, was born ca. 1350. They later had two
more sons, Tautvilas and Zygimantas, and three daughters.
One of the daughters, Miklause, married Prince Ivan of
Tver' in 1375; Danute married Janusz, a Masurian Prince,
in 1380; and Ringaile married Henryk, another Masurian
prince, in 1392. There is definite information that
Kestutis had at least four other sons (Vaisvilas,
Patirgas, Vaidotas, and Butautas), all of whom were much
older than Vytautas. It is surmised that they were the
sons of Kestutis and his previous wife, and that Birute
was probably his second wife.
From 1345 Lithuania was ruled by Algirdas and Kestutis,
who were brothers. They ruled in harmony and wanted their
sons to continue the diarchial system. When Algirdas died
in 1377 his son Jogaila succeeded him. Kestutis had
designated Vytautas to succeed him and attempted to
co-operate with Jogaila in ruling the country. Jogaila was
opposed to the diarchy, however, and wished to rule alone.
The country was on the verge of civil war. Jogaila invited
Kestutis and Vytautas for negotiations; when they arrived
he seized and imprisoned them. Kestutis was murdered in
1382, but Vytautas succeeded in escaping to Prussia, where
he sought aid from the Teutonic Knights. During this
period of unrest Birute had been sent to Brasta
(Brest-Litovsk), a good distance southwest of Vilnius, for
safety. Some historical sources state that she was killed
on Jogaila's orders; others, that she died later, ca.
1389. Her burial place is believed to be Palanga, where
she spent her youth. It is entirely probable that her sons
Vytautas and Zygimantas buried her there on her request.
The Lithuanians have long venerated Birute, who gave
Lithuania one of its greatest rulers, Vytautas; and the
beautiful hill of Birute near Palanga is considered a
national shrine.